U.N. Seeks $8.4 Billion for Syrians

The United Nations said Thursday that it was seeking $8.4 billion, more than the annual economic output of dozens of small countries, to help nearly 18 million victims of Syria’s conflict during 2015.

For the first time, the request, made at a donors’ meeting in Berlin, includes development aid for communities in neighboring countries that have been overwhelmed by the exodus of refugees.

The development aid — for education, public health, public works and jobs — was an acknowledgment that the crisis may last many years, and that it has seriously disrupted the lives of non-Syrians outside the war.

“Syria’s war is still escalating, and the humanitarian situation is becoming protracted,” António Guterres, the head of the United Nations refugee agency, said in an announcement.

“Refugees and internally displaced people have exhausted their savings and resources, and host countries are at breaking point,” he said. “We need a new aid architecture that links support to the refugees with what is being done to stabilize the communities who host them.”

About 12.2 million people, more than half the country’s population, have been displaced within Syria because of the conflict. Some 3.2 million more have fled the country, becoming refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq or Egypt, according to United Nations data.

The United Nations’ 2015 financing plan includes a projection that the refugee total will rise to 4.3 million next year.

The plan sets aside money to directly assist “over a million vulnerable people in host communities,” the announcement said, adding that an additional 20.6 million people in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt will benefit indirectly through upgrades in local infrastructure and services.

The Syrian conflict began with demonstrations against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, followed by a harsh crackdown; it has since become a protracted civil war that has threatened to destabilize the Middle East.

“Conflict has devastated millions of Syrians’ lives, trapping them in conflict areas and denying them access to basic provisions and health care,” Valerie Amos, the United Nations under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said.

“This plan, if fully funded, can help us provide food and medicine for children, shelter families from the cold, and support those who are desperate and traumatized,” she said.

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